Episode 1
TO
WHERE IT BENT IN THE UNDERGROWTH
Chapter Two
STARTIN’
AT SOLUTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS
Max rode
her Ninja around the city. The wind blowing through her hair.
< CRASH
>
At Crash, Original Cindy and Sketchy are drinking beer on the table where Logan sketched his theory on Manticore and White’s Breeding Cult on a tissue a few months back. They watched a couple of Jam Pony Messenger play pool. Sketchy, confused, asked Original Cindy, “So what you’re saying is Max can’t deliver packages so she don’t get paid. But Normal let her deliver ‘em at night so she gets paid? And no signature?! Damned! Wish Normal’d do that with me. D’you think I could plead?”
Alec
approached them, “Not a chance, Sketch.” Original Cindy and Sketchy looks up
to find Alec sitting on a chair in their table.
Sketchy
still shaking his head, “No signatures… damn!”
“Goes for
me too, buddy,” Alec jokingly punched Sketchy on the chest.
As
Original Cindy nods her greeting, Sketchy rose and slapped Alec by the arm,
“Hey, man! Glad to see you drop by.” Realizing what he said, Sketchy looked
around cautiously, “You sure you ought to be here, man? I mean, you know…
lots o’people and well… gotta be careful.”
“Don’t
worry, this boy here checked out the place, ain’t you?” asked OC
Smiling,
“Yes, checked it out. No one here but Jam Pony Messengers, which I still am.”
OC
motioned at Alec, “So… how’s Max? She coming?”
“Don’t
know yet. All I know that Logan did
try and see whether the footage was enough for people to recognize her in
that sector cop video. Turns out that
it wasn’t and what’s left of it has been shut down the drain by Mr.
boyfriend.”
“I’ll
pretend I didn’t here that last part. But if Logan did it, then my boo’s
good. Don’t be wantin’ to get my boo into trouble.”
Looking at
OC, Sketchy nodded, “Gotta give it to Normal. Never thought the guy would give it.” To Alec, “Hey man, let’s
have a game o’pool and show me that trick you got up your sleeves again. Never could get that one.” Alec and
Sketchy left OC on the table. She
looked around to see Max coming down the stairs, spotting her and walking
towards her table.
“How’s my
boo? Packages delivered?” OC asked meaningfully, knowing about the food, gas,
and money she helped Max get over to Joshua’s place right before Normal gave
Max her packages to be delivered at night.
Max just
shrugged and said, “More than you can imagine.” Max pours beer on an empty
glass and drink some, listening to OC.
“That
moron over there.” Motioning to Sketchy, who was playing pool with Alec,
“still can’t get over Normal allowing you to do your deliveries at night –
without signatures, boo.”
Max looked
at Sketchy and Alec playing, “Must be wanting a piece of my
genetically-enhanced-hunted-down life.”
OC nodded
and then stared at Max, “You been up with Logan?” Drinking her beer.
“Yeah. Had
dinner. Figured I could time it in just in time to get the lot.”
“Ummm…
anything new?”
“If you’re
asking about his save-the-world-by-Tuesday TV hack, it might go up and
running again soon. Just got himself
a nice new state-of-the-art-Terminal-city computer security system. Turns out the one Alec and I found were
very helpful, not to say those found by Mole and company...”
“Original
Cindy knows her boo knows what Original Cindy’s talking about.”
Looking
intently at OC, Max said, “We had dinner.
That’s it.”
“No sweet
nothins, going goo-goo-eyed on you?” Max shook her head, trying to laugh it
off. OC’s face grows serious,
“Seriously, boo. Did you tell him?”
“No! I
can’t - ” OC looked pointedly at Max and Max just shook her head, “I can’t
tell him. I just can’t. Not with all this coming around.” Max
stared blankly towards Sketchy and Alec as Alec looked at OC and Max and
noticed Max’s gloomy expression. He
raised his glass of beer.
“You can’t
or you won’t?” OC asks pointedly.
“Look at that smart-ass of a transgenic brothah you got there,” She
motioned at Alec, “Told you, boo.
Logan let go. He said so.” OC
imitated Logan in her own way, “ Coz
there ain’t nothin’ betta’ than his girl getting’ some smile across her face.
Boo, you know you got to.”
Max
sighed, “I know, but I just don’t
know how to tell him now.” She slumped her back against the metal railing
beside their table.
“Boo,
gotta tell him sometime. Sides, after
that stunt the two of you pulled through in Terminal City 3 months back,
would have thought you’d be all over each other by now. What? You holdin’ hands while your
transgenic brothas and sistahs hail on to dog-boy’s flag?!” Max looked
pointedly at OC, “Oh. Right. The
virus.” OC nodded, “But don’t go telling Original Cindy nothin’s going on,
boo. Saw the look on his eyes. Saw you lookin’ at him the same way. Said so y’self, gotta fight this bitch.”
“Yeah, I
know. Just gotta figure out how to go
about it.”
OC reached
over and poured more beer onto Max’s glass, “You will, boo. It’s all good.” Max looked at her as a
hint of a smile lifts a corner of her mouth into a smile. Suddenly, the TV game was interrupted, “Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a Streaming Freedom
Video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be
traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this
city. A few months ago, news reports have been streaming with transgenics
harming people and wanting to take over the city. However these transgenics are just like you and me. They did not choose to be made, but our
government made them.” OC and Max look at each other and then Back at Eyes
Only broadcast.
<
JOSHUA’S PLACE >
At
Joshua’s place, Logan is busy doing his Eyes Only Hack. “…As transgenics were secured into Terminal City, more and more
people began to realize that they are harmless. What occurred as a shootout in one of the messaging services
was due to a group of super soldiers from a secret government agency bent on
killing these transgenics. This
videotape of one transgenics attacking the sector police clearly shows that
he was defending himself and again, the same covert government operation
meant to wipe out transgenics is responsible for keeping this from the
public. But they won’t succeed. We have been living with transgenics for a
long time and no harm has come before us.
Now these group of government people will be exposed. They are seeing their people crumble. Don't believe the hype. This has been an
Eyes Only streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace. Out.”
Logan shut
off the Eyes Only hack. Turning, he
looked onto one of the monitors he was using to track down some information,
“This should turn up something.”
Tapping his finger as he waited for a response, muttering to himself,
“Come on, White. You couldn’t have
covered you’re a** that good. Just
the address of the last time you were registered as Sandeman. That’ll narrow my search…” The computer
beeped and Logan peered closer to the computer screen, “Bingo!” Looking more
closely, Logan checked on the address on Ames Sandeman’s ID right off the FBI
records 22 years too old. He
scribbled it on paper and shut down his computer.
************
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